Post #5

The first tool I used was Animoto.  I created a slideshow of pictures from their class trip to Dewberry Farm.  This was very simple to make and embed into my blog.  The second tool I chose was Glogster.  It was fun to create a page using this instead of power point.  I chose to make a page of my recent trip to New York just so I could get a feel for Glogster.  I started off with a nice background, but somehow it disappeared and it took me awhile to figure out how to get it back. Once I embedded it on to my blog, I couldn't adjust the size to make it fit nicely on to my page.  I think most of the kids would be able to use Glogster to categorize things.  For example, I could break the page into sections for our upcoming unit of rocks.  The kids could click and drag on a picture and put it in the correct section of the page. This could take the place of a cutting and glueing activity.

Some issues I'm having right now is figuring out how to put my page in order.  I would like the post to be above the tools that I'm creating, but I have no idea how to get them in order.  Any tips?

Tool #4

Google Docs is a great tool to have when collaborating with others.  The live editing feature keeps documents organized and allows for the most up to date document to be the one that each person uses. With the number of documents that are emailed within our Kindergarten team, google docs could help keep them organized and updated in one place.  I also noticed that there is a translation option to use on the documents.  This would help save time for the bilingual classes that need documents edited in to other languages.  I do wonder how accurate the translation would be.

As far as goole app uses for the kids, I would like to see what other teachers have done in using videos and images with them.  I do have a number of kids that would be interested in creating projects on the computer, but I would definitely need to research some ideas for them.

Tool # 3

I added 2 videos to my blog.  The first one is Raffi's, Apples and Bananas.  Since we've been working with vowel sounds, I figured the kids would enjoy practicing those sounds with this catchy song.  The second video is the Number Rock song.  This helps kids with their counting skills from 1-20.

At first I had some difficulty finding the embedding code for both of these videos. After clicking around on my computer, I finally was able to come up with it.  I am wondering if the codes will be difficult to find if I am using another computer.  I found the tool ViewPure helpful since it blocks the advertisements as well as inappropriate images that come up on the sides of YouTube videos.

As for copyrighting information, I found out that you are able to use pretty much everything if you are placing it in to a secure location.  I'm wondering since my page is open to the public if that will have an effect on the terms of "secure location".  As I was told in college if you give credit to the source, then there shouldn't be any issues with copyrighting.

I decided to download the dropbox folder for my computer.  This will be very helpful in allowing me to transfer the items I do at home to my school computer and vice versa.

Tool #2

Although I started this tool back in November, it has taken me some time to get more comfortable navigating through all the information.  I'm not as comfortable posting as I would like to be, but hopefully that will get better with time.  It really helps to be able to see completed blogs that I can use as a resource and I think I would be lost without them!
It definitely is a whole different world posting thoughts instead of just discussing things in person with my teammates.  I am lucky to be on a team that works well together, openly shares ideas, and is willing to clarify anything that I may need help with.
I recently joined Pinterest after hearing raving reviews from friends, that also happen to be teachers.  I haven't had as much time as I would have liked to search the site, but definitely look forward to using it soon for ideas in the classroom as well as recipes and things for home.

Beginning my blog

Tool #1
So far, creating this blog has been simple.  My only difficulty occurred when I misunderstood something on the video directions and had to listen to the entire thing over again since there was no rewind button.